There’s something different in the air this morning. Some kind of presentiment... A je ne sais quoi. Reina can’t remember the last time she’s felt anything quite like it... It dances in her eyes as she unlocks the door to the shop. Dawn has yet to break over Sapporo, but her day is already in full motion.
(Man... I’m really doing this!)
She’s seen this place a thousand times before. The lobby, the front desk, the wall of fame and all the mementos therein...but it doesn’t feel the same today. Her grandmother is staring down at her from the wall, as she always is—that same wide-eyed grin on her face from so many years ago. For far too long, that memory has served as an ironic contrast to the shop’s misfortunes... A painful reminder of how far they’ve fallen.
But Reina doesn’t feel ashamed to look at her grandmother’s face anymore. Today, for the first time, she truly feels like she’s following in her footsteps. Her time has finally come.
(Alright... Here we go!)
Light swarms the garage. The Road Runner sits stout as always; joining it is Yuzu’s stricken Silvia, humbly resting at the far corner of the floor. She still hasn’t gotten used to both cars greeting her in the mornings...but in time, the Silvia will fit right in.
“Morning, Reina!” Old Man Takashi was supposed to take the morning shift today, but he’s not surprised to see Reina manning the shop anyway. She’s been bouncing off the walls ever since she got the greenlight from Yuzu and her parents.
“Morning! Just getting started with the Silvia.”
“Not wasting any time, eh?”
“Nope~”
Now that the check has cleared and she can officially get down to business, Reina pops the Silvia’s hood open and hoists it up high to reveal the goods inside. Step one is removing the old engine from its cradle—both to pawn it off to any potential for-parts buyers, and to confirm how much space she has to work with in the engine bay.
“Ahh, been a while since we’ve worked on one of these... Really takes me back.”
“Yeah, these were pretty common back in the day, weren’t they?”
“Yup. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and all.” Takashi does love to reminisce.
He and Clara go way back—he was one of her first clients, and with the help of her mechanical wizardry, he dominated his local racing scene. Before long, all of his rivals were clamoring for Aikawa powerplants of their own to try and keep up with him.
As fate would have it, the next thing he got from Clara was a job. His employer went bust in the 90s, so he just packed his bags, moved to Sapporo, and he’s been working at the shop ever since.
“We tuned up our fair share of these peppy little cars in ye olden days. They can be a bit claustrophobic, but you’d be surprised how much you can cram in there.”
“So we can get one of our small ones in there, right?”
“Oh, yeah, for sure. Plenty of space in there if you know what you’re doing.”
“Perfect.”
Time really does fly when you’re having fun. The relative lack of regular work this morning lets Reina give her undivided attention to the Silvia—and is she ever attentive. She meticulously pores over the engine bay, decoupling the engine bit by bit under Takashi’s watchful eye. She hardly even notices the door chime when a customer comes in for service work...but Takashi’s happy to pick up the slack for her. It’s the least he can do for the heiress apparent.
(You just keep chugging right along, Reina. You’re doing exactly what you need to do.)
With time, patience and a whole lotta elbow grease, Reina finally pulls the blown SR20 from its coffin. It really is a shame this thing was tortured to death... It’d be worth a lot more than it is now, had the previous owner not turned it into a flamethrower. That said, there’s always a chance some obsessed collector or restorer will come along and buy it for parts; failing that, they can always just recycle it. And if not for his antics, this opportunity never would’ve come rolling her way to begin with. Fate does work in funny ways.
“Oooo-kay!” Reina wipes the sweat dribbling down her forehead. It’s been a good while since she got down in the weeds with a car like this... It feels nice.
“I see what you mean, Takashi. There should be plenty of room here.”
“Yup! That there’s a perfect candidate.”
Takashi turns to Reina, who’s already sporting a grin from cheek to cheek. “Looks like you’re ready for the next step. Been a long time coming, huh?”
“Yeah... I’m ready.”
“Let’s go open that door, then.”
Tucked on the second floor of the great brick building lies a door rarely opened—a relic from the golden years that the tides of time couldn’t reach. It is the door to Reina’s dreams. Anticipation shoots up her arm as she grips the handle, her breaths nearly trembling. When the door at last opens again, Reina leaves the Aikawa Auto of the present, and steps through a gateway backward into time.
*Click!*
The light above lazily paints a sterile, dusty picture...but the faded grays belie the true significance of this place. Here lie the chronicles of a mad scientist: Clara Jennings.
Among other things, she was an obsessive note-taker—she made sure everything that ran through her head eventually made its way onto paper. Designs, blueprints, experiments... Every last detail of her life’s work lines the shelves across the room, framed by a single, understated work desk at the very front. If the garage floor was Clara’s laboratory, then this was her library—the sum of all her automotive knowledge, preserved like a time capsule for her granddaughter to inherit.
And there, nestled within the many manuals and technical documents, lies Clara’s mechanical manifesto: the Big Book.
“Man, it’s been too long since we cracked this thing open...” Reina has to blow the dust off the cover, letting loose a light cloud in the washed-out room.
“No better time to break that dry spell, eh?”
“You got that right.”
There really is no overselling the importance of the Big Book. Dwarfing just about any other book Reina’s ever seen, it contains everything she could possibly need to know about how to build an Aikawa engine. Every part, every measurement, every tolerance—there is not a single stone here left unturned.
Reina remembers how she would read through this book for fun as a kid, looking at all the pretty hand-drawn illustrations and memorizing all the technical jargon throughout the pages. As she got older, she would break out the book and read along while helping Clara with her builds... Now, for the first time, she’ll be the one leading the charge.
And she’ll make damn sure she does the job by the book.
“Okay, let’s see here...” She starts flipping through the pages in chunks to find the part she’s looking for. Each of the Aikawa engine designs gets dozens if not hundreds of pages in this book, and if memory serves, the one she wants is at the very back...
“There we are: Pocket PR34. That’s the one.”
The Pocket—a scaled-down V6 design—was one of their most popular offerings back in the day. It was the smallest engine they offered, but Clara was very deliberate with its design: it was made precisely to give small, nimble cars an extra boost of power without weighing them down too much. It was a very successful engine for that reason: it punched well above its weight, and proved itself time and time again on the streets.
You could hardly get the V8-loving Clara to admit it, but she was damn proud of that motor.
“Sounds like you already know where to go from here.”
“I think I’ve got a good lead, yeah. I’ll just be in here taking notes for a while. Would you be okay handling any customers for the time being?”
“Heh heh... Look at you, taking charge.” The sight brings a smile to his face.
“Heehee! Well, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means ‘Roger that,’ boss. You just leave the basics to me; if there’s anything I can do to help, feel free to let me know.”
“Sounds good. Thank you so much, Takashi!”
“No problem.”
Takashi bids the library farewell and returns to the present. He feels like the air about Reina has...changed, somewhat. That timid young girl he used to know has grown up into a real go-getter... All she needed was the right project. The right nudge. The opportunity, at long last, to show an eager client what she’s made of.
(Just like old times... Wherever you are, you crazy bastard, you can rest assured she’s making you proud.)
***
The hours steadily pass in the dingy library, undisturbed by the outside world. Reina, engrossed completely, absorbs the book like a sponge. She’s no stranger to these engines, but when she was growing up, she mostly just helped assemble the acquired parts. The actual process of building the engine from start to finish is something she’s never had to do on her own... Each individual component, from the largest block to the smallest bolt, first needs to be sourced and procured. Only when she has all the pieces of this elaborate jigsaw puzzle can she begin putting them together...
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
But she thinks she’s up to the task. After all, she’s always loved puzzles.
When she emerges from the library, big book in hand, she immediately races to the garage floor to take inventory on all the parts they have. The front desk is getting plenty of work too: Reina already has a giant spreadsheet going, covering every last facet of the order in comprehensive detail. She works the building up and down, steadily filling in more and more of the bigger picture—all while Takashi watches on with a proud smile on his face.
“How’s it going?”
“Not bad so far! Just trying to figure out what we already have and what we need to buy. Buncha boring spreadsheet work too—some of these phone numbers in the big book are waaay out of date, so I’ve gotta get them updated and then start making calls for orders.”
“You’re already gearing up for orders now?”
“Yeah, I think I’m ready! I figure I’ll run the list by you and Mom though, just in case. Oh, and I might still need her to sign off on a couple things since she’s our primary contact for some of these suppliers. Just official stuff.”
“Man... Yeah, sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.” He can barely keep up with how fast her mind is racing...but he doesn’t need to. This is her project—and soon, if it isn’t already, it’ll be her company too.
That logistical prowess is something Reina’s never really thought about as a strength of hers, but to everyone else around her, her talent is blatantly obvious. She’s just got such a knack for managing things. Even at a young age, she was obsessed with organizing, categorizing, making sure she knew every little quirk and detail of a project. Now, her skills have matured, and all those pent-up dreams and ambitions are finally being put to the test.
“Yeah... Yeah, that works. Just gotta call them up and get the ball rolling there. Lemme see here, their working hours aaare...” Reina finds the one tab she needs on a very busy computer screen. She’s about to place an order for a big, big part.
“Good! They’re still open. Time to call in an order!”
There’s a certain excitement, a whimsy coursing through her as she punches in the foundry’s number. She’s steadily knocking out more and more milestones on her long, long road to taking the reins—and with each order, each part, each piece of the puzzle, she can feel herself gaining confidence. This’ll be her first time talking to the foundry herself—just like mom and grandma used to do...
“Ichimura Foundry! How can I help you?”
“Hello! This is the Aikawa Auto Company. I’m calling to put in a casting order!”
“...Ohhh, hello! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Is this Sami?”
“Close—I’m her daughter, Reina! This is my first time heading up an engine project here.”
“Oh, she’s told me about you! Nice to finally put a voice to the name!”
Another old friend of Clara’s. Despite setting up shop all the way down in Hamamatsu in Japan’s central region, she and her foundry have been Aikawa Auto’s go-to engine block supplier for decades.
“Right, so getting down to business: you’ve still got our PR34 design, right?”
“You bet I do. Looking for a block?”
“Yup. We’ve finally got a new engine order!”
“Oh, that’s wonderful news! Well, I’ll get right to work on that, then. I should have a quote ready for you within the next couple days.”
“Excellent! Just out of curiosity, do you have a lead estimate for me?”
“Well, you’re in luck. Business is pretty slow at the moment, so I can get you in pretty quick. Factoring in shipping, I can probably get it to you in, oh...six weeks? Conservative estimate.”
“Oh, that’d be perfect!”
“I can probably get it to you a week or two faster with some extra motivation, though~”
“Well, that’s for the client to decide, of course~”
“Right. Can’t fault me for trying!”
“Go ahead and send me an invoice whenever. Thank you very much!”
“Any time! You take care now.”
“You too... Yup. Bye.”
And with that, one big piece falls right into place.
“Perfect...! Yes!” Reina fist-pumps to herself. “This is really happening now... I still can’t believe it!”
It brings Reina no end of relief to feel so readily accepted into this world. All this time, she’s been wondering how she could possibly break into it...but now, she’s putting those big shoes on and filling them as best she can.
“And if her estimate is right, this’ll be ready for assembly a whole lot faster than I expected... We might be able to get this build done while I’m still on break!” She didn’t plan for the timing of it all to work quite so well, but she’s certainly not complaining.
That, then, lifts her over the first major hurdle of the build. Throughout the rest of the day, she sends out calls and fills out forms, putting Yuzu’s budget to good use as she secures parts big and small. In time, the pieces will all arrive at her desk...and she’ll be ready to put them all together.
Clara looks down at her from the wall...and she’s smiling, just like she always is.
***
At last, the day is done. Long after the sun has set, long after the customers and the other employees have come and gone, Reina shuts the shop computer down for the night and lets her eyes rest for the first time in a great while. The whole day has been a blur... She feels like she had so much and so little time to work with; so many things to do, yet stopped right up against the boundaries of her timetable. It’s a strange feeling, looking forward to what the future brings for once...but Reina could certainly get used to it. It puts the wind back in her sails.
To say nothing of her mother, who cracks a gentle smile when she spots Reina finally returning home for the night.
“Well, somebody was burning the midnight oil down there!”
“Uh, heh heh... Yeah. There was just so much to do!”
“Well, that’s not a bad thing at all, now is it?”
“Nope~”
Reina breathes a sigh of relief, her shoulders sagging as her whole body decompresses. Powder falls onto the mud room carpet as she brushes straggling snowflakes off her coat. As much as she loves her job, there’s nothing like coming home and unwinding after a hard day’s work—especially when there’s a nice, warm bed waiting for her.
“You hungry for anything, or are you just gonna hit the hay?”
“Yeah, I’m tired. I’m gonna hop in the shower, and then that’ll be it for me today.”
“Nothing wrong with that! You’ve earned it.” Sami herself is just finishing off a late dinner. The aroma tempts Reina, but the allure of the shower is stronger.
Sami wasn’t on the clock today; she wishes she were, but with her back still giving her trouble, she needs her off days to rest up and recover. She promises to make up for it once assembly time comes round. Perhaps Reina taking the reins early like she did was a blessing in disguise... She doesn’t need to lean on her mom as much anymore.
Not that Sami’s content to just give up and let her daughter do all the work. Whether it’s picking up the slack at the shop or taking care of things at home, she wants to be there however she can. It really is the least she can do.
“So, how’d it go? I know you called me about that one form you needed my signature for, but it seemed like you were just humming along otherwise!”
“Yeah, I’m surprised how smooth it went!”
(Heh heh... I’m not. That’s my girl.)
“I got a good chunk of parts ordered today. There’s a lot of stuff I’m still waiting for email replies on, but the rest went pretty well. Assuming we don’t have any big delays, we might have all the parts we need by the end of my break!”
“Excellent! Gotta love how quick the turnarounds are down at Ichimura.”
“No kidding.”
Sami takes another sip of her tea. “So, you feeling better about things now?”
Reina isn’t sure how to answer that question, if she’s being honest. She really does feel more confident, more in control of things...but she almost feels like she’d jinx herself if she acknowledges that fact. Like someone or something is waiting to pull the rug out from under her.
But her feelings don’t lie: there’s an optimism deep down inside that she just can’t deny. It feels strange...alien, even. But she has to let it in, she realizes. In order to believe in the future, you must first believe in yourself.
“...Yeah.”
“Good to hear.” Sami shuffles up out of her seat and gives Reina a big ol’ hug.
“You’ve got what it takes. Don’t let anyone or anything tell you otherwise.”
Reina melts into Sami’s embrace. “Thanks, Mom... Thank you.”
“Of course, sweetie.” With a pat on the back, Sami affirms to her that she’s not alone. When the time comes for her to take the next step, they’ll all be there for her. She guarantees it.
For tonight, however, Reina needs her rest. Her quivering yawn echoes through the room as she finally makes for the shower, eager to wash away all her fatigue and crash into her bed for the night.
Sami too can’t help feeling drowsy after her late meal and her evening tea; she would retire early herself...but there’s something keeping her eyes open and her mind occupied.
*sigh* “They grow up so fast... I didn’t expect I’d have to think about this so soon.”
Sami takes a good, long look out the kitchen window, tea in hand. This winter seemed to fly by compared to previous years... The flakes are still falling outside, but they won’t stick around much longer. Before she knew it, spring is already knocking on Sapporo’s door...and with the changing seasons comes the dawn of a new era at Aikawa Auto.
It’s that bridge she’s thinking about—that transition between past and future. Reina seems to know what she wants for the company...but there’s a certain tension gnawing at Sami as she prepares to pass the torch. A choice she has to make...
(Should I tell her...?)
Aikawa Auto is not without its secrets. As the heiress apparent, Reina has every right to know...but all the same, she’s already been dragged down and forced to carry the weight of all the company’s prior missteps. Does Sami really have the right to place one more figment of the past upon her?
(I feel like that’s not what she needs, but...)
...Is it even Sami’s place to hide that from her? What right does she have to make such an important choice—or indeed, prevent that choice from being made—when her time in the sun has long since set?
After all, she was the one who couldn’t capitalize on it to begin with...
*sigh*
Sami’s wrinkled gaze narrows. The steam from her tea still dances up to her face. She takes one more long sip...and in that moment, she realizes she still has the responsibility to do what’s best for Reina. That’s how she should be thinking about this.
Reina deserves to know everything. What she does with that knowledge will be her choice and hers alone.
(...But not right now. She has other things she’s focusing on.)
(Once she’s done with this project, once she’s found her footing in the company...I think that’s when I’ll let her know. She might be able to make it work where I couldn’t...)
Her expression softens into a calm smile. It really would be in better hands with her.
(After all, she is her grandmother’s granddaughter.)
Contented, Sami finishes her tea. Maybe she is just worrying about all this too much. She’s noticed one particular thing about Reina and the way she manages the shop: she’s always thinking ahead. At times, that drags her down, when the future seems bleak and hopeless; other times, however, it serves as a beacon of light that guides her way. She’s always trying to figure out how to bring the company with her into the future ahead, while keeping true to herself and her identity... It’s a marked departure from Sami’s own way of doing things.
Perhaps that’s what the company’s needed all along.
(Yeah... I’ll just leave the driving to her for now. I think she knows what she’s doing.)
At any rate, there’s still plenty left to do in the meantime—that new engine won’t build itself. Reina’s already steering the company well, and once the wait is over, she’ll be able to break new ground as the de facto boss of the shop.
The seasons are changing...and the future is looking brighter and brighter by the day.